The panel responding to questions from the crowd (of circa 50 attendees), and many members of the audience (entrepreneurs themselves) also shared their own lessons learned (in the trenches).Advice and recommendations for new entrepreneurs on team management from the session included:

We all make mistakes

Require flexibility and growth

Celebrate small successes

Extreme transparency

Include team in problem resolution

Clear mechanism to address problems

Know who does what and make sure they know they own their role.

Anticipate leadership scaling issues

Consensus on milestones: did we get there, where do we go from here?

Don’t just seek consensus on values, but also how to implement values.

Vision is great but break it down into daily activities and priorities

“No Roses” --- no holds barred brainstorming session 1x/quarter.

Seek insights from other founders and entrepreneurs to get their input on things you can’t talk about with your team and/or your investors (e.g. how do I get my CTO to get along with my VP, Engineering, or how do I get rid of the Pain-in –the A** on my board?)

Feedback from some of the grizzled “been there, done that” serial entrepreneurs in the audience:“While much of the dialog included “no brainer” advice, nice to be reminded of these it’s nice to hear some collective validation that startups face lots of common challenges.” There was also a rookie team in the audience: A sizable contingent of younger entrepreneurs -- students from Tufts, some MBA candidates and some who’re incubating the next new thing right now. It was to witness the enthusiasm of the next generation of serial entrepreneurs!

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MassTLC is the region’s leading technology association and the premier network for tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors and policy leaders. MassTLC’s purpose is to accelerate innovation by connecting people from across the technology landscape, providing access to industry-leading content and ideas and offering a platform for visibility for member companies and their interests. More at www.masstlc.org